Read the following passage.
Meenal is the only girl from her village who has reached High School. For this, she has to move away from her village and stay in the city. She has made a lot of friends and every time she is invited by them to attend parties, she is unable to say 'no' to them. This leaves her with less time to study, which adds to her stress level. She has been procrastinating her work and spends more time thinking that she will not be successful in life. This has increased her tension and resulted in a lack of confidence in her. Quite often she vents out her feelings of anger and frustration at her parents. Her teacher, who had been observing her, advised her to take charge of herself and seek professional help from a psychologist who uses cognitive behavioural techniques to reduce stress.
"She vents out her feeling of anger and frustration on her parents." Identify the type of coping strategy used by Meenal:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Emotion-focused strategy
Option (1) Avoidance oriented strategy — Incorrect. In Endler and Parker’s list, this strategy involves denying or minimising the seriousness of the situation and pushing stressful thoughts away, for example by watching TV or phoning a friend. Meenal is not avoiding her feelings; she is letting them out.
Option (2) Task oriented strategy — Incorrect. It means obtaining information, deciding priorities and acting so as to deal directly with the stressful situation, for example scheduling one’s time better. Shouting at her parents does nothing about her studies.
Option (3) Problem-focused strategy — Incorrect. In Lazarus and Folkman’s terms, problem-focused strategies attack the problem itself, by gaining information, altering the event or changing beliefs, as in ‘I made a plan of action and followed it’. Meenal makes no plan to change her situation.
Option (4) Emotion-focused strategy — Correct. Emotion-focused strategies try to limit the emotional upset caused by an event, with little effort to change the event itself, as in ‘I did some things to let it out of my system’. Endler and Parker’s emotion-oriented strategy likewise includes venting feelings of anger and frustration. Meenal’s outbursts at her parents release her feelings but leave the cause of her stress untouched.
NCERT (2025-26): “Coping with Stress … The three coping strategies given by Endler and Parker are: Task-oriented Strategy : This involves obtaining information about the stressful situation and about alternative courses of action and their probable outcome; it also involves deciding priorities and acting so as to deal directly with the stressful situation. For example, schedule my time better, or think about how I have solved similar problems.…” “Emotion-oriented Strategy : This can involve efforts to maintain hope and to control one’s emotions; it can also involve venting feelings of anger and frustration, or deciding that nothing can be done to change things. For example, tell myself that it is not really happening to me, or worry about what I am going to do.…” “Avoidance-oriented Strategy : This involves denying or minimising the seriousness of the situation;…” “Coping with Stress … Problem-focused strategies attack the problem itself, with behaviours designed to gain information, to alter the event, and to alter belief and commitments.…” “Coping with Stress … Emotion-focused strategies call for psychological changes designed primarily to limit the degree of emotional disruption caused by an event, with minimal effort to alter the event itself.…” |